Sights & Attractions in Great Glen with Inverness and Loch Ness

The ancient rift valley of the Great Glen is a dramatic feature on the map of Scotland, giving the impression that the top half of the country has slid southwest. Geologists confirm that this actually occurred, after matching granite from Strontian, in Morvern, west of Fort William, with the same type of rock found at Foyers, on the east side of Loch Ness, some 65 mi away. The Great Glen, with its sense of openness, lacks the grandeur of Glencoe or the mountains of the Torridons, but the highest mountain in the United Kingdom, Ben Nevis (4,406 feet), looms over its southern portals, and spectacular scenery lies within a short distance of the main glen.

A map of Scotland gives a hint of the grandeur and beauty to be found here: fingers of inland lochs, craggy and steep-sided mountains, rugged promontories, and deep inlets. But no map can convey the area's brilliant purple and emerald moorland, its forests and astonishingly varied wildlife (mountain hares, red deer, golden eagles, ospreys), or the courtesy of its soft-spoken inhabitants and their sense of history.

Though it's the capital of the Highlands, Inverness has the flavor of a Lowland town, its winds blowing in a sea-salt air from the Moray Firth. Inverness is also home to one of the world's most famous monster myths: in 1933, during a quiet news week, the editor of a local paper decided to run a story about a strange sighting of something splashing about in Loch Ness. Seventy years later the story lives on, and the dubious Loch Ness phenomenon continues to keep cameras trained on the deep waters.

Fort William, without a monster on its doorstep, makes do with Ben Nevis and the Road to the Isles, a title sometimes applied to the breathtaking scenic route to Mallaig. This is best seen by rail, since the road to Mallaig is still narrow, winding, and single track in places, and meeting an oncoming bus can be alarming—especially if you are distracted by the view. On the way, road and rail routes pass Loch Morar, the country's deepest body of water, which lays claim to its own monster, Morag. Away from the Great Glen to the north lie the heartlands of Scotland, a bare backbone of remote mountains.

The great hills that loom to the southeast form the border of Strathspey, the broad valley of the River Spey. This area, commonly called Speyside, is known as one of Scotland's main whisky-distilling areas and is traversed by the Malt Whisky Trail.

Impressive and historic castles are also on the agenda in the Great Glen, perhaps one of the best known of which is Urquhart Castle, a favorite haunt of Nessie-watchers because of its location halfway down Loch Ness. It was once a great royal base and dates to the 13th and 14th centuries, though it's largely in ruins now. To the east are two top-of-the-list castles that are still inhabited: Cawdor Castle, with its happy marriage of different furnishings—modern and ancient, mellow and brightly colored—and Brodie Castle, with its magnificent library and a collection of paintings that extend well into the 20th century.

Less »